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UKRANIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelensky today defended his decision to agree to a hostage-taker’s demand that he post a film recommendation to end a 12-hour stand-off.
Zelensky described how he negotiated personally yesterday evening with a gunman who was holding 13 hostages on a bus in the western city of Lutsk.
“We have a result – everyone is alive. We are not fighting for (approval) ratings – we are fighting for life,” Zelensky said in a statement of his decision, as some criticised him for giving in to the gunman’s demands.
The SBU security service said all 13 hostages were released unharmed after a police stand-off with the man, who had threatened to detonate an explosive device.
The tense hostage situation ended after the president agreed to post a recommendation of a 2005 US documentary narrated by actor Joaquin Phoenix called Earthlings, which condemns humans’ mistreatment of animals.
Zelensky said he agreed with the hostage-taker, identified as 44-year-old Maksym Kryvosh, that “he would release three people, and after that I would record a video.”
‘This is a mistake’
The armed man complied and freed three hostages: a man, a pregnant woman and a child.
In response, the president posted a video message on Facebook and Kryvosh agreed to release all his captives half an hour later, Zelensky said.
The gunman is currently being held in a temporary detention centre, police reported.
The president later deleted the short video from his account.
The SBU security service classed the incident as an “act of terror” and “hostage-taking” and Kryvosh could face up to 15 years in prison.
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